Titans head coach Robert Saleh says his team has its franchise quarterback in place.
Asked if the coaching staff is confident in Cam Ward, Saleh insisted that Ward has already shown significant growth and is going to continue developing.
“We have the utmost confidence in Cam,” Saleh said. “We really do. I’m not trying to stand up here and show strength. The kid’s gonna be a damn good quarterback. Everyone just needs to take a deep breath and let him grow. If you can’t objectively sit down and watch tape and look at him from Week 1 of last year to Week 1 of this year to Week 4 yesterday, and not see improvement, and a young man who’s trending in the right direction, then you’re just being biased to your own opinion.”
In Sunday’s loss to the Ravens, Ward completed 20 of 31 passes for 222 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for 27 yards. Saleh was pleased.
“I do think it was the best game he’s played this year. When you look at it as a whole, he made a lot of plays with his feet, a lot of plays off schedule, did a good job hanging in the pocket,” Saleh said. “I thought he did a lot of good things and he’s done a nice job building off the positives that we’ve had each week.”
Ward has started all 21 games since the Titans took him with the first overall pick in last year’s draft, and the Titans are 3-18 in those games. At some point, the Titans need Ward to play winning football. Saleh is confident he will, eventually.
Titans Clips
Sunday started with five 0-3 teams in the NFL. It will end with five 0-4 teams in the NFL.
Each of the winless teams lost again on Sunday — the Dolphins, the Titans, the Texans, the Chargers, and the Buccaneers.
Only one team has ever recovered from 0-4 to make the playoffs. The Chargers did it in 1992.
The good news is that one of the 0-4 teams is destined to not fall to 0-5. The Titans host the Texans next weekend, in the Something’s Gotta Give Bowl.
It’s a deep hole, for all five winless teams. It helps to have a 17th game and seven playoff spots per conference.
For the Chargers and Texans, it’s a stunning slide. Both made the playoffs last year, and both were expected to do it again.
They still could. Getting that first win would be nice.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson exited Sunday’s 24-18 win over the Titans after suffering an ankle injury late in the first half. And while his status has been characterized elsewhere as “day to day,” he is currently believed to be week to week, we’re told.
Jackson left the stadium in a walking boot.
The final prognosis depends on an MRI, which will reveal the extent of the ligament damage.
Ravens coach Jesse Minter downplayed the situation in his postgame press conference.
“Yeah, he was just dealing with a little bit of an ankle, we hope,” Minter told reporters regarding the two-time NFL MVP. “I don’t know enough about it right now. But we’ll have to see where that’s at. But again, thought Snoop [Huntley] came in and ran the operation in a way that allowed us to get the win which is most important. And so we’ll see where that’s at.”
Minter also acknowledged that “there was some talk” about Jackson returning to the game if necessary.
Again, the MRI will be critical. The 3-1 Ravens face the 1-2 Falcons in Atlanta next Sunday night.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson sat out the second half of today’s game against the Titans with an ankle injury, but Baltimore was just fine without him.
The Ravens already had a 24-7 halftime lead when Jackson exited, and they played it safe with Tyler Huntley in the second half on the way to a 24-18 win.
The Titans made things close late in the game, but when they failed to recover an onside kick, the Ravens ran out the clock.
Jackson played a tremendous first half, going 15-for-20 for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Huntley didn’t do much in the second half, but the Ravens didn’t need him to.
The reason the Ravens didn’t need much from their offense was that the Ravens’ defense shut down Titans quarterback Cam Ward. After Ward threw an interception on the second play of the game, he mostly threw short and safe passes the rest of the way, leading to a lot of three-and-out possessions for the Titans’ offense. Four games into his second season, the 2025 first overall pick just doesn’t look like a franchise quarterback.
If Jackson’s injury is serious, that would be devastating to the Ravens, but if Jackson is healthy, this Ravens team looks like a contender. At 3-1, Baltimore is going places.
At 0-4, Tennessee is going nowhere. The Titans are a mess, with massive questions about the quarterback who was supposed to be their future.
The Ravens are having a great day, but they’re now holding their collective breath.
Quarteback Lamar Jackson is questionable with an ankle injury.
Jackson was injured during a sack late in the second quarter. Tyler Huntley has replaced him.
The Ravens have also ruled out cornerback Marlon Humprhey with a calf injury.
Jackson has completed 15 of 20 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns. His passer rating for the day is 144.2. Receiver Zay Flowers has seven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown.
The Ravens lead the Titans, 24-7.
The Ravens are making it look easy today against the Titans.
Ravens kicker Tyler Loop even made a 64-yard field goal look easy as time expired on the first half. Loop’s 64-yarder made it with a few yards to spare and gave Baltimore a 24-7 lead.
Lamar Jackson has completed 15 of 20 passes for 222 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and his favorite receiver has been Zay Flowers, who has six catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. Derrick Henry has a rushing touchdown, his seventh of the season.
The Titans’ offense had a solid 10-play, 70-yard drive in the first quarter that culminated with a Tony Pollard touchdown run, but after that they’ve been able to get nothing going.
Baltimore appears to be cruising toward a win.
In the second quarter today in Baltimore, Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton blitzed as soon as the ball was snapped and drilled Titans quarterback Cam Ward for what he thought was a sack.
One problem: The Titans’ sideline had called timeout just before the snap.
That meant there was no play, and instead of a sack, the officials flagged Hamilton for unnecessary roughness.
On one hand, you can understand the officials’ thinking: A defensive player drilling a quarterback with a hard hit on a play that was blown dead is an automatic 15-yard penalty.
On the other hand, how was Hamilton supposed to know the play was blown dead? The home crowd in Baltimore was roaring, which was why the Titans were struggling to get their signals called and why the coaching staff decided to call timeout. If the crowd was loud enough that the Titans’ players couldn’t hear Ward barking out the signals, how was Hamilton supposed to hear the official on the Titans’ sideline blow his whistle?
It was unfortunate for Hamilton but ultimately not costly for the Ravens: The defense stuffed the Titans on fourth-and-goal later on the drive.
Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. will make his first appearance of the 2026 season on Sunday.
Porter is active for the Cowboys less than a week after joining the team in a trade with the Steelers. Porter was listed with a back injury while in Pittsburgh, but his contract impasse with the team was seen as the true reason for his inactivity and Porter was not on the injury report for the Cowboys.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Porter is expected to play a limited number of snaps against the Texans in his Cowboys debut, but his presence should be welcomed for a defense that has struggled to find consistency over the first month of the season.
Cowboys at Texans
Cowboys: LB DeMarvion Overshown, CB Cobie Durant, CB Caelen Carson, RB Emari Demercado, LB James Houston, OL Ajani Cornelius, WR Camden Brown
Texans: LB Azeez Al-Shaair, DE Chris Braswell, OL Febechi Nwaiwu, OT Nate Thomas, TE Marlin Klein
Titans at Ravens
Titans: RB Michael Carter, CB Jaylon Jones, G Drew Moss, OT Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, TE Kylen Granson, DT Jackie Marshall
Ravens: QB Joe Fagnano, LB Trey Hendrickson, WR Chris Moore, DT Aeneas Peebles
Patriots at Bills
Patriots: OT Dametrious Crownover, TE Tanner Arkin, QB Behren Morton, CB Christian Gonzalez, DT Christian Barmore, CB Channing Canada
Bills: WR Skyler Bell, S Jalon Kilgore, CB Christian Benford, LB Mike Danna, G Ar’maj Reed-Adams, OT Jude Bowry, DL T.J. Sanders
Jets at Bears
Jets: WR Adonai Mitchell, RB Breece Hall, CB Nahshon Wright, LB Kiko Mauigoa, LB Kinglsey Enagbare, G Dylan Parham, TE Mason Taylor
Bears: QB Caleb Williams, OL Ozzy Trapilo, CB Cam Lewis, DL Jaydon Loving, DL James Lynch, DL Jamree Kromah
Jaguars at Bengals
Jaguars: CB Montaric Brown, WR C.J. Williams, CB Christian Braswell, S Jalen Huskey, LB Jack Kiser, OL Daniel Faalele, DE Wesley Williams
Bengals: S Bryan Cook, S Kyle Dugger, LB Swayze Bozeman, OL Myles Hinton, WR Colbie Young, DT B.J. Hill, DT Landon Robinson
Cardinals at Giants
Cardinals: QB Carson Beck, CB Starling Thomas, S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, LB Cameron Robertson, OL Josh Fryar, WR Reggie Virgil
Giants: S Ar’Darius Washington, RB Devin Singletary, CB Nikko Reed, LB Jihad Ward, OL J.C. Davis, TE Thomas Fidone, DL Bobby Jamison-Travis
Rams at Eagles
Rams: WR C.J. Daniels, QB Ty Simpson, CB Cam Lampkin, CB Jaylen Watson, OL Bill Murray, TE Colby Parkinson, DT Aaron Donald
Eagles: WR Hollywood Brown, WR DeVonta Smith, QB Cole Payton, S Marcus Epps, LB Zack Baun, OT Lane Johnson, OL Fred Johnson, TE Dallas Goedert
Packers at Buccaneers
Packers: OL Jacob Monk, G Kevin Zeitler, G Aaron Banks, DT Anthony Campbell
Buccaneers: LB Rueben Bain, QB Baker Mayfield, DB Benjamin Morrison, TE Ko Kieft, OL Luke Haggard, OL Billy Schrauth, DL DeMonte Capehart
The Ravens lost centers Jovaughn Gwyn and Ethan Pocic to long-term injuries in last Sunday’s win over the Ravens and both players were moved to the injured reserve list on Saturday.
Gwyn fractured his fibula and Pocic hurt his knee after replacing him. Danny Pinter is also on injured reserve, so the team turned to first-round pick Vega Ioane last Sunday and he’s expected to remain at the position for this Sunday’s game against the Titans. Andrew Vorhees replaced Ioane at right guard against Dallas.
The Ravens did not fill either roster spot, but they have elevated guard Kyle Hergel from the practice squad.
Hergel signed with the Ravens this week and he played for offensive coordinator Declan Doyle in Chicago last season.
Week 4 is here, and five teams are still looking for their first victory of 2026.
The Dolphins, Texans, Titans, Chargers, and Buccaneers are all 0-3. Only seven teams (most recently, the 2025 Texans) have made the playoffs after an 0-3 start.
None of the five teams play each other this weekend, which means all five could still be winless come Monday. Any that land at 0-4 will be facing a steep climb to the postseason.
Only one team in NFL history has qualified for the playoffs after starting 0-4. In 1992, the Chargers under first-year coach Bobby Ross turned it around and secured the AFC West crown. The Chargers won 11 of their 12 final games of the season.
The Chargers advanced through the wild-card round with a 17-0 win over the Chiefs, who had swept the Chargers during the regular season. The next week, the Dolphins eliminated the Chargers with a 31-0 blowout.
With 17 games and seven playoff spots per conference, it’s easier than ever for a team to turn it around after an 0-4 start. Still, many 0-4 teams start that way for a reason; they’re not very good. The 1992 Chargers were much better than their early-season record indicated, and they made it all the way to the final eight.
